HIV/AIDS in Mexico

180,000: Number of people living with HIV/AIDS
42,000: Number of women (ages 15-49) living with HIV/AIDS
6,200: Number of deaths due to AIDS during 2005

(Above statistics are 2005 Estimates)

Sources: UNAIDS 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic
May 2006

The first AIDS case to be reported in Mexico was in 1983. Through retrospective studies, HIV in Mexico can be traced back to 1981. In recent years there has been an average of 4,000 new cases annually. Though AIDS has been reported in all states of Mexico, approximately 55% of AIDS cases are concentrated within Mexico City. Home to over 25 million people, Mexico City is the largest city in the world.

Mexico accounts for 11% of the total estimated number of HIV/AIDS cases in Latin America. Recent years have witnessed a gradual shift in how the virus is being transmitted. Though still concentrated among men who have sex with men, injecting drug users and heterosexual women are increasingly at risk. Thus, the rate of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) is on the rise.

It is estimated that 30% of Mexicans living with HIV/AIDS were actually infected while in the US. International migration from Central America to Mexico and from Mexico to the US fuels the spread of the disease throughout the rural countryside. A recent government study shows that the virus is spreading much more rapidly in rural areas than in cities. There has been an 80% increase in the number of infections reported from rural populations since 1994. Lack of education and testing perpetuate the stigma and fear associated with the disease. Access to adequate healthcare and treatment is severely limited.